Reading

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We believe that our students have the potential to become literate, independent, lifelong readers. We provide our students with the strategies that they will need in order to become more confident, fluent, and proficient readers. Our goal is to prepare our students to be college and career ready as per outlined in the Common Core State Standards.

We foster this belief by providing the students with rich and varied reading experiences and opportunities to respond to what they have read.

The Secondary Reading Department offers courses at a variety of levels to meet the needs of our students in grades six through twelve at John F. Kennedy Middle School, Enrico Fermi High School, and Enfield High School. Units of Study have been developed to center the instruction on the CCSS and prepare students to succeed on the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium assessments. The department has a focus standard each month and shares resources with other content areas to increase reading comprehension.

Strategic Reading: This course is offered to students who have the potential to polish their literacy skills. These students enjoy a rich and exciting adventure in the world of contemporary fiction, classic literature (Great Books at the middle school), and informational texts from a variety of genres. Students are instructed on the art of “close reading” and are encouraged to critically engage with their daily independent reading. This course is intended to improve a student’s vocabulary, critical-thinking and analytical skills, reading stamina, and comprehension level.

Assisted Reading: This course is offered to students who benefit from smaller groups along with the opportunity for more individualized instruction to succeed. Taught by a certified Reading Consultant, students can focus on their reading skills and target their intervention to individual weaknesses. Assisted Reading is designed to teach students to employ strategies independently, read more effectively across all content areas, increase vocabulary knowledge, and bring students’ reading comprehension up as high as possible.

Corrective Reading: This course is offered at the high school level and is designed to accelerate the learning of students who have not yet mastered the ability to decode and/or are not yet fluent readers. Taught by a certified Reading Consultant, students get small group attention in systematic phonics and/or a variety of fluency strategies.

Reading Strategies: This course is offered to all 6th grade students and is a collaborative effort between the 6th grade content area teachers and the certified Reading Consultants. In Reading Strategies, each 6th grade team, with input and assistance from the Reading Consultant, designs and implements a curriculum to best meet their students’ needs. Resources available to all include Making Meaning and Great Books.